Gold and Iron

OLD TILER, why are not more Masons, Masons?" asked the New
Brother in the anteroom.
"For the same reasons that not more friends are friends, or hot dogs,
sausages, I guess," answered the Old Tiler. "You tell me the answer."
"It seems mighty ueer to me that we !an"t make more lodge mem#ers feel
the inner s$irit of Freemasonry, answered the New Brother. "I !an"t
understand it."
"That shows you ha%en"t a %ery o#ser%ing $air of eyes or a great
understanding of human nature,"" smiled the Old Tiler. "If this was a $erfe!t
world made u$ of $erfe!t men there would #e no need of Freemasonry&"
""May#e not. But if you !an see what I !an"t, and understand what is hidden
from me, tell me, won"t you?""
"I"ll try, answered the Old Tiler. ""' great many years ago there was a great
leader of men on earth( I don"t know whether it was )uatama Buddha, or
Mohammed, or Brahma. No matter what his name was, this great leader and
tea!her of men wandered in a s$arsely settled $art of the #a!k !ountry near
the sea, hungry and tired and footsore. *e had asked se%eral of the !ountry
$eo$le for aid and shelter #ut while they were not unkind they also were
$oor and offered him nothing, thinking him one of themsel%es.
""'t last, howe%er, he found a $oor $easant who took him in. The $easant
ga%e him some dry !lothes, for his were wet from storm, and shared his !rust
of #read and his hum#le !ottage. In the morning he ga%e the wanderer
#reakfast and a staff to hel$ him on his way.
" "+hat !an I do to re$ay you?" asked the great leader of his host.
" "I need no $ayment. I, too, ha%e #een a wanderer and you ha%e #oth my
sym$athy and my aid for lo%e only," answered the $easant.
" "Then the great leader told him who he was. "'nd #e!ause I ha%e $ower, I
will reward you in any way you wish," he said. ",hoose what you will ha%e."
" "If it is indeed so, oh, my -ord," answered the $easant, gi%e me gold( gold,
that I may #uy !lothes and food and women and wine( gold, that I may ha%e
$ower and $la!e and $rominen!e and ha$$iness."
")old I !an gi%e you, #ut it would #e a $oor gift" answered the great leader.
"+ho has gold without earning it ears of the tree of misery. 'nd #e!ause you
ha%e #een kind to me I will not gi%e you su!h a !urse. )old you shall ha%e,
#ut a task you shall do to earn it. You wear an iron #ra!elet. On the shore of
the sea, among many, is a $e##le, whi!h if you tou!h it to iron will turn it to
gold. Find it, and all iron will #e your gold."
"*ardly sto$$ing to thank his #enefa!tor, the $easant ran to the seashore to
$i!k u$ $e##les arid tou!h them to his #ra!elet to see if it would turn to gold.
'll morning he ran, $i!king u$ $e##les, tou!hing the iron, and then, so that
he wouldn"t $i!k u$ the wrong $e##le twi!e, lie tossed the useless $e##les,
whi!h were not the magi! stone, into the .ea.
"'fter a while the task #e!ame monotonous( $i!k u$ $e##le, tou!h it to iron,
throw it in the sea / o%er and o%er again. .o he amused himself with %isions
of what he would do when he should ha%e won the great wealth. *e $lanned
his harem and his wine !ellar, $i!tured the great #anuets he would gi%e,
thought of the sla%es he would $ur!hase and how he would #e re!ogni0ed #y
all as a ri!h and $owerful no#le. Meanwhile, of !ourse, he was #usy $i!king
u$ $e##les, tou!hing them to his #ra!elet and throwing them into the sea.
"The day wore on. The %isions #e!ame more and more entran!ing, the task
more and more me!hani!al. 'nd at last, 1ust as the sun was going down, the
$easant looked at his #ra!elet / and #ehold& It was ruddy yellow gold&
.ome one of the thousands of $e##les he had tou!hed to the iron was the
lu!ky one, the magi! one, and #e!ause he had #een thinking of something
else, doing his task me!hani!ally, he had !ast it into the sea.""
The Old Tiler sto$$ed, thoughtfully $uffing at his !igar.
"That"s a %ery ni!e fa#le,"" o#ser%ed the New Brother. "But what his it to do
with the matter under dis!ussion?"
"Mu!h," answered the Old Tiler. ""In Masonry we are too mu!h like the
$easant. +e take the $e##les of the #ea!h, the many who a$$ly to us, tou!h
them to the iron of our Freemasonry and !ast them out into the sea of life.
Or we take the tou!hstone whi!h is Freemasonry and tou!h it to the iron
whi!h is a man, and let him throw it away. +ork the simile how you will,
what we do is to negle!t the newly made Mason( we gi%e him only
$erfun!tory attention. +e do our work me!hani!ally. +e are letter $erfe!t
in our degrees, and too often without the s$irit of them. +e ha%e ritualists
who !an dot e%ery I and !ross e%ery T, who ha%e e%ery word in $la!e and no
wrong words, #ut who ha%e no knowledge of what they say. I on!e knew a
)rand Master who didn"t know what a he!atom# was, and $lenty of Masons
!annot tell you if the two $illars on the $or!h were su$$orts for a loafing
$la!e or whether they ha%e a s$iritual meaning not at all !on!erned with
$or!hes.
"The reason more Masons do not deser%e the title is not altogether their
fault. It2s our fault& +e don"t know enough oursel%es to tea!h them( we
don"t !are enough a#out it to tea!h them. ' good #alan!e in the #ank, a
growing mem#ershi$, a free feed, "ni!e" degrees / and we !all oursel%es a
su!!essful lodge. But we make only ten men real Masons for e%ery hundred
to whom we gi%e the degrees, and the fault is ours, not theirs( my fault, your
fault, our fault
#e!ause we don"t study, don"t learn, don"t !are to learn the real se!rets of
Freemasonry, and so !annot tea!h them."
""There is one who tea!hes in this lodge,"" answered the New Brother, slowly,
""and one who tries to learn."
"Yes?" answered the Old Tiler. ""+ho are they?"
"You, who tea!h, and I, who try to learn, "" answered the New Brother.
"*um$h," grunted the Old Tiler, #ut his eyes smiled, well $leased.